2020-10-29 - Who's Your Daddy Report
General Summary
* Game sessions are now being recorded, so session reports will be more accurate and may contain details that might have been missed when recounting from memory.
The session begins at the end of the last game session. Our adventurers have just fended off a small party of Orcs, looted and cleared the camp of the corpses, and have completed a night's rest. The party mounts up, Nobody on foot, and continues on the mission. Nobody runs back and forth across the path, just a head of the rest of the group, stopping briefly to ask "Where to?", hands in the air and shoulder shrug to emphasize the query. The others mostly ignore him, so Nobody goes back to his travels, looking like an overly excited dog in a new environment. Hours pass and the group spies a wooden walled town ahead. Nobody bolts for the town, and Kanuni sends his familiar, Chovi to follow. Basinbury is a small town, mostly supported by the timber industry operating in the forests around it. The town has the usual shops, selling mercantile, basic bulk food stuffs, and generic clothing. Most of the men of the town are employed by one of the logging camps nearby, or the small sawmill at the south edge of town. A farm or two to the north supplements the shipments of bulk goods from the cities to the southeast and northwest. An inn on the west side of town can bed three dozen loggers per night in a dorm or hostel type configuration, and is almost at capacity every weekend; less than a half dozen private rooms are available. The inn also includes a tap house and a kitchen. Worn travelers will find the private rooms empty most weeknights, but may have to share a bunk bay with the locals on weekends. A brothel has sprung up near the Inn, and the party may find rooms there (billed by the hour, and including a companion). The party passes through the center of town, and Grim is hit by a tomato. Stopping and scanning the square, he spots the woman hastily marching his way. Grim dismounts to confront the angry woman, calmly greeting her. "Hello, Sister. What seems to be the problem?" Clearly enraged about something, the woman replies, "It's about time you showed back up! You said you were going out for milk, and you have been gone for two frickin' years! Where have you been?" Confused, Grim attempts to calm the woman and says, "Sister, I think you may..." The angry woman cuts him off. "Sister? What do you mean sister?!?! Since when am I your sister? That hag! You had better refer to me as your wife!" "I think you have me mistaken for somebody else." "I do not have you mistaken for anybody else! You are my low life husband. You are a lousy lout who abandoned your family, and your kids!" She motions off to the side and two children approach, trying to hide behind her apron. "I can't believe that you would be such a dead beat and abandon your children like you have!" A crowd has begun to gather around the group. Nobody approaches the lady and says, "Hey! Lighten up!" She turns on Nobody, fire in her eyes. "Don't you tell me to lighten up when this... this... sow... has left the whole family high and dry!" She sputters. "We don't have an income anymore! The... the... little bit of farming that we had has dried up; lying fallow. We don't have any milking cows left. We have eaten the little bit of livestock that we had. This guy has left us with NOTHING!" Innocently, Nobody says, "That can't be good." "I agree that's not good! And, I think that he should either come home, go back to his job at the mill, or... if he is going to leave us again, at least leave us with something to help keep us afloat. Maybe 100 gold. Enough that we can buy the goods that we need to survive." Irthar draws his charged crossbow menacingly, and approaches the woman, "Are we going to have a problem here?" Seeing the crossbow, Kanuni works his way to the back of the crowd, who are now shouting at the engaged party members. "I think she has just mistaken me for somebody else." Grim places a soothing hand on the readied crossbow. "I was only mistaken for marrying you, you piece of dung!" "My dear sister..." The cleric is definitely flustered from the encounter and is trying hard to diffuse the situation. "I am not your sister, you delusional ass! How many times do I have to tell you that?" "... my name is Grim Galanodel. I was born in Unity. After leaving Unity, I joined a monastery..." Grim continued. "Don't give me that bull crap!" the irate woman screams at Grim. "You know damn well that your name is Biero!" "That can't be good." repeats Nobody. "Are you going to do right by your children, or not?" the woman continues. "Grim, just get on your horse. We're leaving." Irthar sighs, as he stores the crossbow. "It must be a sign." Nobody stage whispers to nobody in particular. The crowd advances trying to block the exit of the party. "It would not be right to leave this lady without something." Grim replies to Irthar's prompting. "I don't this Biero that you speak of, but..." This time, Grim is interrupted by the actions of Kanuni. While in the back of the crowd, Kanuni conjured a small pouch with the feel of 100gp contents. He steps through the crowd and drops the pouch in the hand of the woman, mounts up, and begins to work his way back through the crowd; saying nothing to the woman, the crowd, or his party. Nobody sees the gesture, and follows Kanuni out of the crowd. "You're right." Not being of high intelligence, the woman goes off the weight and feel of the pouch, and accepts the purse without glancing inside. "Ma'am, I hope that you do find your 'Biero'. And, again, we are terribly sorry for any trouble or confusion that we might have caused you." Grim leads his horse out of the crowd, following Kanuni and Nobody. "Lousy sot. Get out of here and don't come back!" The crowd emphasizes her parting order. "May the Mother and the Father watch over you." Grim graciously replies. "Your mother and father were pigs!" The last thing the party hears from the woman. The party could hear the towns folk standing in the square and discussing the encounter as they rode out of the western gate. The adventurers pass through the town gates and are just minutes from the town. At about the same time they spot an oncoming wagon from the west, they hear a whistle from just inside the town. Turning back to look, Irthar sees that the town square has completely emptied. The party steps off the side of the road, Kanuni calls Chovi to him and sitting down on a fallen log; He begins to pet the hawk as the wagon passes; a driver and passenger on the driver's bench. The driver waves a thanks for right of way as the wagon drives on towards the town. As our group sets to the road again, they can hear a ruckus from the town at their backs... A woman's voice carries as she accuses one of the 2 from the wagon of being her estranged husband "Biero". "What the Hells is that?" Nobody asks Grim. "My brother, these small towns are strange at the best of times." Grim replies, shaking his head. "Should I use my hands?" Nobody inquires. "No, they shall find their peace with the Mother and the Father." Hours down the road from Basinbury, and with night closing in, the group finds a wider spot in the road to pitch camp. Once camp is set up, Irthar decides to wander off to the surrounding woods, looking to hunt. Following a game trail, he stumbles upon a small shack. Circling the cabin, looking for signs of life, he finds nothing to indicate that the shack had been used recently. He approaches the shack and tries to clear one of the windows windows with a hem of his cloak; the window is opaque from soot coating the inside of the pane. A quick strike with his dagger's pommel shatters a small panel of glass, allowing him to peer inside. The interior of the shack is empty, except for a large cast iron oven. Wanting to investigate further, Irthar checks the door to find that it has no lock; he enters the hut. Cautiously approaching the oven, he carefully inspects it to find that though there are still embers in the oven, it likely hasn't seen a full fire in hours. Looking around the shack, he finds it bare; no furniture, no supplies, and not even firewood. He leaves the shack, abandons his hunt, and returns to camp. With the campfire becoming visible through the brush, Irthar surprises four rooting boars. He charges his crossbow and fires at one. The bolt sinks deep into the left shoulder of the boar, and the boar falls to the ground with a loud squeal. The noise alerts the rest of the party, and Kanuni commands Chovi to investigate. The hawk returns and relays that Irthar had engaged a boar that was now wounded. The party goes to assist. The boars are incited by the noise and advance on Irthar, but he ducks in behind a tree and melds in to the shadows. Irthar recharges the crossbow, but this time the bolt flies wild. Grim quickly approaches and when within range of the boars, slams the base of his staff to the ground. A loud ringing permeates the air as the Toll of the Dead spell is released from the action, but that is the only effect. Nobody stops short of the action, and ducks in to the shadows among the trees. Kanuni reaches the area, and a bolt of fire rapidly extends from his had to the downed boar; the smell of cooked pork flesh filling the air. Having time to charge the crossbow once again from behind the tree, Irthar fires at one of the uninjured boars; the bolt sinking in to the boar's flesh with a loud "thump". The boar stumbles a bit from the impact. Irthar ducks back behind the tree and into the shadows once again. The boar that Irthar first maimed manages to get to its feet and follows the other boars towards Kanuni and Grim. The bolt deeply in its shoulder, the boar is showing signs of slowing but the blood flowing from the wound isn't. One of the uninjured boars charges at Grim, goring him. The wound is deep and begins bleeding immediately. Grim is knocked to the ground from the impact. Grim springs to his feet and casts Bane on the closest boars, and Shield of Faith on himself. Nobody overtakes the slow moving maimed boar, and bare-fisted, takes three successive punches at the animal, landing two in vital locations; the third glancing off the boar's thick skull. The boar reels from the attack, nearly dead from the blows and the loss of blood. One of the boars that had moved in on Grim swipes with its sharp tusks but with the chaos surrounding the combatants, misses; the wild swing of its head causing it to daze itself on a nearby stump. At the same time, Kanuni steps in, the forest around the fray brightens, and again, a thin stream of fire leaps from his fingers, and connects with dazed boar facing off with Grim. The boar's flesh bubbles at the touch of the flame. While the boar is howling in pain, Kanuni channels Dragon's Breath through Chovi and sends the bird off before stepping back in to the shadows of the forested night. Irthar bears the crossbow on another of the boars and fires. The bolt flies through the night, hitting the target in the haunches. More howls penetrate the night. The maimed boar closes ranks with Nobody, attempting to gore him with a tusk. Due to blood loss, the boar misses Nobody, but just by inches. One of the boars that is attacking Grim swings for a tusked assault, but the tusk finds nothing but air as they dance around each other. With three of the four boars so close to each other, Kunani releases the Dragons Breath through Chovi, and again, a bright flash of light in the glen. The cone of fire hits all three, but one was on the edge of the cone and was only mildly scorched. The dazed boar died from this and its other wounds. In a full rage, and seeming to ignore the pain, the remaining boars each takes another stab at Grim with those razor sharp tusks; and Grim dances out of the way, narrowly missed. Grim recovers and slams his staff to the ground. Another loud "bong" spits the air, the concussion of which causes one of his attackers to perceptibly bleed from it's snout and ears. Nobody takes a series of three punches at the maimed boar, connecting with the last blow. The boar, just on the edge of death, continues to fight. The night erupts in to brightness in just a flash, as Kanuni unleashes another Fire Bolt. The stream of fire snakes through the air instantly, heavily searing the flesh of targeted boar. At the same time, a crossbow bolt sails out of the night from Irthar's direction, piercing the other boar attacking Grim right behind the ear, passing through the skull, and only stopping with inches of the tip protruding from the boar's forehead. * I don't intend to break the narrative often, but once in a while, something happens out of the flow of the game that has to be reported.
For context, in the combat tracker, each boar is numbered and boars 2 and 3 are now dead. Boar 1 is still attacking Grim, and Boar 4 is the maimed one (and one health point away from death) which is now attacking Nobody.
It is Boar 4's attack and just before I roll the attack, Yohance (Kanuni) announces in to the game chat session "He's gonna 'crit'". The roll is thrown and lands a natural 20 (a 'crit" as predicted). The group busts in to explosive laughter... except for Patrick (Nobody)... the target.
I now return you to our story, already in progress.
* The maimed boar gores Nobody, sinking a tusk deep in to flesh. The wound is massive and bleeding profusely; Nobody will not be able to take another blow of this severity. Once again channeling Dragon's Breath through Chovi, Kanuni targets the maimed boar attacking Nobody. Another bright flash and more of the smell of roasting pork wafts on the wind. The boar collapses sounding and smelling like morning bacon. Chovi lands on Nobody's shoulder, releases a slight belch; a whiff of smoke escaping his little hawk nostrils. Even severely wounded, the final boar is focused on Grim and sinks a tusk in to Grim's thigh, opening another critical wound that leaks crimson into the night. At death's door, Grim clutches the wound, muttering to his Gods, and his hand begins to glow. The blood stops flowing from the gash and the flesh begins to knit itself back together. The night lights up again, and just before Irthar comes running out of the shadows, rapier held high above his head for a killing downward thrust, a stream of flames reaches out through the darkness and sears the remaining boar. Moments later, Irthar's rapier bites down on the boar's nape and finishes the boar off. With the fight over, the team carves a couple pounds of their favorite cut off of the boars, leaving the carcasses to the forest night dwellers, then head back to camp; tending wounds and enjoying their porcine treats. The adventurers assign watches, with Irthar volunteering for first watch, Kanuni for fourth watch, and Grim for second. This leaves Nobody without a watch and the group eyes him up, trying to decide whether to trust him with their lives. Finally, Kanuni breaks the silence when Nobody doesn't volunteer. "Hey, you, in the tree." Nobody had already climbed a tree and was preparing to meditate. "Are you going to take watch?" "Yes." An answer, just as simple as the speaker. "Good. Which watch do you want?" As if Nobody had a choice. "There is only one left, it's third, and you're getting that." "Have you thought this through?" Asks Nobody. "Do you have another watch that you would prefer?" "Let's not go there." "Ok. Third watch, it is." Kanuni begins to head back to the camp fire, and to Chovi on his shoulder, he mutters under his breath, "Fucking weirdos." Of course, the night went quietly through the first two watches, and the same could almost be said about the third, until the horses became restless, sensing trouble brewing. From the darkness, a bugbear rushes the sleeping party members, unaware of the monk in the tree. And in a blink of an eye, the camp erupts in to chaos. The bugbear runs up to the sleeping Irthar, ready to smash him with a morningstar, and almost at the same time, a loud draconian roar comes from the edge of the bugbear to his left; Nobody creating an auditory minor illusion. The noise distracted the bugbear, causing him to miss Irthar. The party was also immediately awake. The other four bugbears creeping up on the camp froze waiting for the source of the roar to show itself; one becoming frightened, the others cautious. Grim, awakened by the roar finds two bugbears standing over him, poised to attack, and a third closing in. He springs away and to his feet, a command shouted in to the night. In an instance, a stream of flames falls from the heavens, illuminating the camp but for a briefest of moments. One of the bugbears is caught directly and his fur melts away at at the touch of the flames; The other two bugbears managing to dodge the effects, but only by inches. Fully awake now from the loud roar off to the side of camp, the howling bugbear, and Grim's shout, Kanuni rolls to his feet. He mutters something arcane, and gestures, releasing the already prepared Mage Armor spell; the slight bluish glow around his body is almost imperceptible. He then turns to Chovi and begins to channel Dragon's Breath through the familiar. Kanuni also moves off to the edge of the camp to prepare for his next action. The bugbear attacking Irthar is visibly shaken from the roar, and runs away from the sound, giving Irthar time to scramble to his feet and pull his rapier. He stabs at the bugbear that just attacked him, but also fails to make contact, as the bugbear leaves his reach. From the other side of the road, another thunderous roar; Nobody doing his best to confuse the bugbears from his perch in the tree. He then melds in to the the shadows within the branches. A frightened bugbear passes close to Irthar, but, being already engaged with his attacker, Irthar can't react fast enough to land a blow on the passing bugbear. This bugbear is putting as much distance as possible between the second roar and itself. The first bugbear frightened is beginning to gather his wits about himself; not seeing any evidence of beasts large enough to create such roars, he begins to move back in to the fray. Chasing after one of the fleeing bugbears, Irthar manages to connect with a thrust. The blow lands in a vital location, sneaking under the bugbear's hide armor; blood begins to seep from the deep wound. Irthar then breaks off the pursuit, and slips in to the shadows of the fire lit camp. Empowered with Dragon's Breath, Chovi belches out a cone of flame, barely catching one of the bugbears in the line of fire, mildly hurting the beast. The bugbear that Irthar was chasing is totally engulfed. The bugbear falls, a smoldering corpse. Between the roars, and the carnage of the incinerated bugbear, one of the remaining becomes frightened and runs toward the shadows, attempting to put some distance between itself and the creators of the roars. Unbeknownst to the bugbear, he heads straight at Irthar who is lurking in the shadows. Irthar steps out and lunges for the bugbear, again, his blade finding its mark. The bugbear takes a gouge on an exposed arm; the wound is not fatal but does slow the creature down. The camp is bathed in sudden light. Grim reaches for the heavens, shouting to his deities. Another column of flame descends to earth, narrowly missing a bugbear. At the same time, Kanuni releases a stream of flame from his outspread finger tips, connecting with a different bugbear, but singeing hair and hide. Nobody casts Minor Illusion for the third time and a hissing emanates from near the feet of his targeted bugbear, then slips back in to the shadows. The bugbear is critical of this sound as it is not the normal battle sounds, but he is cautious. A bugbear moves up on Grim, and with a swing of his morningstar, catches Grim hard in the torso. Grim's studded leather armor protects him from the spikes of the morningstar, but the concussion of the blow bruises his ribs and internal organs. Irthar steps back out of the shadows, firing a crossbow bolt in to the melee, missing his target. Kanuni again channels Dragon's Breath through his familiar, Chovi, but the targeted bugbear is just on the edge of the cone of fire. The bugbear receives moderate burns. A nearby bugbear throws a javelin at Chovi; the javelin slicing through the air and narrowly missing the bird. The bird flies to out of range of both bugbears. Grim, slams his staff to the ground and a deep tone rings out into the night. The holy energy released causes the flesh on the nearest bugbear to wither. Grim then utters the commands to refresh his Shield of Faith and the glow that had been fading during the fight returns. A gesture from Kanuni and a sheet of fire extends from his hands in a cone that envelopes the two bugbears that are attacking Grim. One is burned more severely than the other, but the least burned is already suffering from other wounds and is near critically wounded. After the third illusionary noise from Nobody, the remaining frightened bugbear begins to doubt the sources that it can't see. The bugbear moves in to attack Grim. One of the bugbears has maneuvered to be under the tree that Nobody has been hiding in. Nobody drops down from above with a series of three chops and punches, all missing to find their targets and the bugbear is only annoyed by the action of the monk. In retaliation, the bugbear swings his morning star at Nobody, the weapon hitting him in the upper arm. The gash begins to bleed, but the arm is not smashed. Irthar, not choosing to return to the shadows after his last attack, is rushed by a bugbear. The bugbear's morningstar narrowly misses Irthar. Irthar returns the attack, his rapier finding its mark, the bugbear now on death's door. With a command from Kanuni, Chovi finds a position that allows Kanuni to channel Dragon's Breath against two of the bugbears, one of which is the bugbear attacking Nobody. The cone of flame squarely finds both targets, and Nobody's attacker dies. The other bugbear is severely burned while attacking Grim. The attack is a wild swing that connects to nothing. Grim again slams the staff to the ground to trigger Toll of the Dead, the severely burned bugbear in front him falling to the earth, dead from the burns and the effects of the cleric's spell. Two bugbears remain. Kanuni spreads his arms wide and his occult words releases a cylinder of flame five foot wide. The flames shoot forward and engulf the last bugbear facing off with Irthar. As the flames sear the flesh from the bugbear, nearly killing it, a crossbow bolt from Irthar finds its mark and finishes the bugbear off. Nobody runs up to the final bugbear and with a single punch takes the fight out of the bugbear; all bugbears now dead. This is where the session ended
The session begins at the end of the last game session. Our adventurers have just fended off a small party of Orcs, looted and cleared the camp of the corpses, and have completed a night's rest. The party mounts up, Nobody on foot, and continues on the mission. Nobody runs back and forth across the path, just a head of the rest of the group, stopping briefly to ask "Where to?", hands in the air and shoulder shrug to emphasize the query. The others mostly ignore him, so Nobody goes back to his travels, looking like an overly excited dog in a new environment. Hours pass and the group spies a wooden walled town ahead. Nobody bolts for the town, and Kanuni sends his familiar, Chovi to follow. Basinbury is a small town, mostly supported by the timber industry operating in the forests around it. The town has the usual shops, selling mercantile, basic bulk food stuffs, and generic clothing. Most of the men of the town are employed by one of the logging camps nearby, or the small sawmill at the south edge of town. A farm or two to the north supplements the shipments of bulk goods from the cities to the southeast and northwest. An inn on the west side of town can bed three dozen loggers per night in a dorm or hostel type configuration, and is almost at capacity every weekend; less than a half dozen private rooms are available. The inn also includes a tap house and a kitchen. Worn travelers will find the private rooms empty most weeknights, but may have to share a bunk bay with the locals on weekends. A brothel has sprung up near the Inn, and the party may find rooms there (billed by the hour, and including a companion). The party passes through the center of town, and Grim is hit by a tomato. Stopping and scanning the square, he spots the woman hastily marching his way. Grim dismounts to confront the angry woman, calmly greeting her. "Hello, Sister. What seems to be the problem?" Clearly enraged about something, the woman replies, "It's about time you showed back up! You said you were going out for milk, and you have been gone for two frickin' years! Where have you been?" Confused, Grim attempts to calm the woman and says, "Sister, I think you may..." The angry woman cuts him off. "Sister? What do you mean sister?!?! Since when am I your sister? That hag! You had better refer to me as your wife!" "I think you have me mistaken for somebody else." "I do not have you mistaken for anybody else! You are my low life husband. You are a lousy lout who abandoned your family, and your kids!" She motions off to the side and two children approach, trying to hide behind her apron. "I can't believe that you would be such a dead beat and abandon your children like you have!" A crowd has begun to gather around the group. Nobody approaches the lady and says, "Hey! Lighten up!" She turns on Nobody, fire in her eyes. "Don't you tell me to lighten up when this... this... sow... has left the whole family high and dry!" She sputters. "We don't have an income anymore! The... the... little bit of farming that we had has dried up; lying fallow. We don't have any milking cows left. We have eaten the little bit of livestock that we had. This guy has left us with NOTHING!" Innocently, Nobody says, "That can't be good." "I agree that's not good! And, I think that he should either come home, go back to his job at the mill, or... if he is going to leave us again, at least leave us with something to help keep us afloat. Maybe 100 gold. Enough that we can buy the goods that we need to survive." Irthar draws his charged crossbow menacingly, and approaches the woman, "Are we going to have a problem here?" Seeing the crossbow, Kanuni works his way to the back of the crowd, who are now shouting at the engaged party members. "I think she has just mistaken me for somebody else." Grim places a soothing hand on the readied crossbow. "I was only mistaken for marrying you, you piece of dung!" "My dear sister..." The cleric is definitely flustered from the encounter and is trying hard to diffuse the situation. "I am not your sister, you delusional ass! How many times do I have to tell you that?" "... my name is Grim Galanodel. I was born in Unity. After leaving Unity, I joined a monastery..." Grim continued. "Don't give me that bull crap!" the irate woman screams at Grim. "You know damn well that your name is Biero!" "That can't be good." repeats Nobody. "Are you going to do right by your children, or not?" the woman continues. "Grim, just get on your horse. We're leaving." Irthar sighs, as he stores the crossbow. "It must be a sign." Nobody stage whispers to nobody in particular. The crowd advances trying to block the exit of the party. "It would not be right to leave this lady without something." Grim replies to Irthar's prompting. "I don't this Biero that you speak of, but..." This time, Grim is interrupted by the actions of Kanuni. While in the back of the crowd, Kanuni conjured a small pouch with the feel of 100gp contents. He steps through the crowd and drops the pouch in the hand of the woman, mounts up, and begins to work his way back through the crowd; saying nothing to the woman, the crowd, or his party. Nobody sees the gesture, and follows Kanuni out of the crowd. "You're right." Not being of high intelligence, the woman goes off the weight and feel of the pouch, and accepts the purse without glancing inside. "Ma'am, I hope that you do find your 'Biero'. And, again, we are terribly sorry for any trouble or confusion that we might have caused you." Grim leads his horse out of the crowd, following Kanuni and Nobody. "Lousy sot. Get out of here and don't come back!" The crowd emphasizes her parting order. "May the Mother and the Father watch over you." Grim graciously replies. "Your mother and father were pigs!" The last thing the party hears from the woman. The party could hear the towns folk standing in the square and discussing the encounter as they rode out of the western gate. The adventurers pass through the town gates and are just minutes from the town. At about the same time they spot an oncoming wagon from the west, they hear a whistle from just inside the town. Turning back to look, Irthar sees that the town square has completely emptied. The party steps off the side of the road, Kanuni calls Chovi to him and sitting down on a fallen log; He begins to pet the hawk as the wagon passes; a driver and passenger on the driver's bench. The driver waves a thanks for right of way as the wagon drives on towards the town. As our group sets to the road again, they can hear a ruckus from the town at their backs... A woman's voice carries as she accuses one of the 2 from the wagon of being her estranged husband "Biero". "What the Hells is that?" Nobody asks Grim. "My brother, these small towns are strange at the best of times." Grim replies, shaking his head. "Should I use my hands?" Nobody inquires. "No, they shall find their peace with the Mother and the Father." Hours down the road from Basinbury, and with night closing in, the group finds a wider spot in the road to pitch camp. Once camp is set up, Irthar decides to wander off to the surrounding woods, looking to hunt. Following a game trail, he stumbles upon a small shack. Circling the cabin, looking for signs of life, he finds nothing to indicate that the shack had been used recently. He approaches the shack and tries to clear one of the windows windows with a hem of his cloak; the window is opaque from soot coating the inside of the pane. A quick strike with his dagger's pommel shatters a small panel of glass, allowing him to peer inside. The interior of the shack is empty, except for a large cast iron oven. Wanting to investigate further, Irthar checks the door to find that it has no lock; he enters the hut. Cautiously approaching the oven, he carefully inspects it to find that though there are still embers in the oven, it likely hasn't seen a full fire in hours. Looking around the shack, he finds it bare; no furniture, no supplies, and not even firewood. He leaves the shack, abandons his hunt, and returns to camp. With the campfire becoming visible through the brush, Irthar surprises four rooting boars. He charges his crossbow and fires at one. The bolt sinks deep into the left shoulder of the boar, and the boar falls to the ground with a loud squeal. The noise alerts the rest of the party, and Kanuni commands Chovi to investigate. The hawk returns and relays that Irthar had engaged a boar that was now wounded. The party goes to assist. The boars are incited by the noise and advance on Irthar, but he ducks in behind a tree and melds in to the shadows. Irthar recharges the crossbow, but this time the bolt flies wild. Grim quickly approaches and when within range of the boars, slams the base of his staff to the ground. A loud ringing permeates the air as the Toll of the Dead spell is released from the action, but that is the only effect. Nobody stops short of the action, and ducks in to the shadows among the trees. Kanuni reaches the area, and a bolt of fire rapidly extends from his had to the downed boar; the smell of cooked pork flesh filling the air. Having time to charge the crossbow once again from behind the tree, Irthar fires at one of the uninjured boars; the bolt sinking in to the boar's flesh with a loud "thump". The boar stumbles a bit from the impact. Irthar ducks back behind the tree and into the shadows once again. The boar that Irthar first maimed manages to get to its feet and follows the other boars towards Kanuni and Grim. The bolt deeply in its shoulder, the boar is showing signs of slowing but the blood flowing from the wound isn't. One of the uninjured boars charges at Grim, goring him. The wound is deep and begins bleeding immediately. Grim is knocked to the ground from the impact. Grim springs to his feet and casts Bane on the closest boars, and Shield of Faith on himself. Nobody overtakes the slow moving maimed boar, and bare-fisted, takes three successive punches at the animal, landing two in vital locations; the third glancing off the boar's thick skull. The boar reels from the attack, nearly dead from the blows and the loss of blood. One of the boars that had moved in on Grim swipes with its sharp tusks but with the chaos surrounding the combatants, misses; the wild swing of its head causing it to daze itself on a nearby stump. At the same time, Kanuni steps in, the forest around the fray brightens, and again, a thin stream of fire leaps from his fingers, and connects with dazed boar facing off with Grim. The boar's flesh bubbles at the touch of the flame. While the boar is howling in pain, Kanuni channels Dragon's Breath through Chovi and sends the bird off before stepping back in to the shadows of the forested night. Irthar bears the crossbow on another of the boars and fires. The bolt flies through the night, hitting the target in the haunches. More howls penetrate the night. The maimed boar closes ranks with Nobody, attempting to gore him with a tusk. Due to blood loss, the boar misses Nobody, but just by inches. One of the boars that is attacking Grim swings for a tusked assault, but the tusk finds nothing but air as they dance around each other. With three of the four boars so close to each other, Kunani releases the Dragons Breath through Chovi, and again, a bright flash of light in the glen. The cone of fire hits all three, but one was on the edge of the cone and was only mildly scorched. The dazed boar died from this and its other wounds. In a full rage, and seeming to ignore the pain, the remaining boars each takes another stab at Grim with those razor sharp tusks; and Grim dances out of the way, narrowly missed. Grim recovers and slams his staff to the ground. Another loud "bong" spits the air, the concussion of which causes one of his attackers to perceptibly bleed from it's snout and ears. Nobody takes a series of three punches at the maimed boar, connecting with the last blow. The boar, just on the edge of death, continues to fight. The night erupts in to brightness in just a flash, as Kanuni unleashes another Fire Bolt. The stream of fire snakes through the air instantly, heavily searing the flesh of targeted boar. At the same time, a crossbow bolt sails out of the night from Irthar's direction, piercing the other boar attacking Grim right behind the ear, passing through the skull, and only stopping with inches of the tip protruding from the boar's forehead. * I don't intend to break the narrative often, but once in a while, something happens out of the flow of the game that has to be reported.
For context, in the combat tracker, each boar is numbered and boars 2 and 3 are now dead. Boar 1 is still attacking Grim, and Boar 4 is the maimed one (and one health point away from death) which is now attacking Nobody.
It is Boar 4's attack and just before I roll the attack, Yohance (Kanuni) announces in to the game chat session "He's gonna 'crit'". The roll is thrown and lands a natural 20 (a 'crit" as predicted). The group busts in to explosive laughter... except for Patrick (Nobody)... the target.
I now return you to our story, already in progress.
* The maimed boar gores Nobody, sinking a tusk deep in to flesh. The wound is massive and bleeding profusely; Nobody will not be able to take another blow of this severity. Once again channeling Dragon's Breath through Chovi, Kanuni targets the maimed boar attacking Nobody. Another bright flash and more of the smell of roasting pork wafts on the wind. The boar collapses sounding and smelling like morning bacon. Chovi lands on Nobody's shoulder, releases a slight belch; a whiff of smoke escaping his little hawk nostrils. Even severely wounded, the final boar is focused on Grim and sinks a tusk in to Grim's thigh, opening another critical wound that leaks crimson into the night. At death's door, Grim clutches the wound, muttering to his Gods, and his hand begins to glow. The blood stops flowing from the gash and the flesh begins to knit itself back together. The night lights up again, and just before Irthar comes running out of the shadows, rapier held high above his head for a killing downward thrust, a stream of flames reaches out through the darkness and sears the remaining boar. Moments later, Irthar's rapier bites down on the boar's nape and finishes the boar off. With the fight over, the team carves a couple pounds of their favorite cut off of the boars, leaving the carcasses to the forest night dwellers, then head back to camp; tending wounds and enjoying their porcine treats. The adventurers assign watches, with Irthar volunteering for first watch, Kanuni for fourth watch, and Grim for second. This leaves Nobody without a watch and the group eyes him up, trying to decide whether to trust him with their lives. Finally, Kanuni breaks the silence when Nobody doesn't volunteer. "Hey, you, in the tree." Nobody had already climbed a tree and was preparing to meditate. "Are you going to take watch?" "Yes." An answer, just as simple as the speaker. "Good. Which watch do you want?" As if Nobody had a choice. "There is only one left, it's third, and you're getting that." "Have you thought this through?" Asks Nobody. "Do you have another watch that you would prefer?" "Let's not go there." "Ok. Third watch, it is." Kanuni begins to head back to the camp fire, and to Chovi on his shoulder, he mutters under his breath, "Fucking weirdos." Of course, the night went quietly through the first two watches, and the same could almost be said about the third, until the horses became restless, sensing trouble brewing. From the darkness, a bugbear rushes the sleeping party members, unaware of the monk in the tree. And in a blink of an eye, the camp erupts in to chaos. The bugbear runs up to the sleeping Irthar, ready to smash him with a morningstar, and almost at the same time, a loud draconian roar comes from the edge of the bugbear to his left; Nobody creating an auditory minor illusion. The noise distracted the bugbear, causing him to miss Irthar. The party was also immediately awake. The other four bugbears creeping up on the camp froze waiting for the source of the roar to show itself; one becoming frightened, the others cautious. Grim, awakened by the roar finds two bugbears standing over him, poised to attack, and a third closing in. He springs away and to his feet, a command shouted in to the night. In an instance, a stream of flames falls from the heavens, illuminating the camp but for a briefest of moments. One of the bugbears is caught directly and his fur melts away at at the touch of the flames; The other two bugbears managing to dodge the effects, but only by inches. Fully awake now from the loud roar off to the side of camp, the howling bugbear, and Grim's shout, Kanuni rolls to his feet. He mutters something arcane, and gestures, releasing the already prepared Mage Armor spell; the slight bluish glow around his body is almost imperceptible. He then turns to Chovi and begins to channel Dragon's Breath through the familiar. Kanuni also moves off to the edge of the camp to prepare for his next action. The bugbear attacking Irthar is visibly shaken from the roar, and runs away from the sound, giving Irthar time to scramble to his feet and pull his rapier. He stabs at the bugbear that just attacked him, but also fails to make contact, as the bugbear leaves his reach. From the other side of the road, another thunderous roar; Nobody doing his best to confuse the bugbears from his perch in the tree. He then melds in to the the shadows within the branches. A frightened bugbear passes close to Irthar, but, being already engaged with his attacker, Irthar can't react fast enough to land a blow on the passing bugbear. This bugbear is putting as much distance as possible between the second roar and itself. The first bugbear frightened is beginning to gather his wits about himself; not seeing any evidence of beasts large enough to create such roars, he begins to move back in to the fray. Chasing after one of the fleeing bugbears, Irthar manages to connect with a thrust. The blow lands in a vital location, sneaking under the bugbear's hide armor; blood begins to seep from the deep wound. Irthar then breaks off the pursuit, and slips in to the shadows of the fire lit camp. Empowered with Dragon's Breath, Chovi belches out a cone of flame, barely catching one of the bugbears in the line of fire, mildly hurting the beast. The bugbear that Irthar was chasing is totally engulfed. The bugbear falls, a smoldering corpse. Between the roars, and the carnage of the incinerated bugbear, one of the remaining becomes frightened and runs toward the shadows, attempting to put some distance between itself and the creators of the roars. Unbeknownst to the bugbear, he heads straight at Irthar who is lurking in the shadows. Irthar steps out and lunges for the bugbear, again, his blade finding its mark. The bugbear takes a gouge on an exposed arm; the wound is not fatal but does slow the creature down. The camp is bathed in sudden light. Grim reaches for the heavens, shouting to his deities. Another column of flame descends to earth, narrowly missing a bugbear. At the same time, Kanuni releases a stream of flame from his outspread finger tips, connecting with a different bugbear, but singeing hair and hide. Nobody casts Minor Illusion for the third time and a hissing emanates from near the feet of his targeted bugbear, then slips back in to the shadows. The bugbear is critical of this sound as it is not the normal battle sounds, but he is cautious. A bugbear moves up on Grim, and with a swing of his morningstar, catches Grim hard in the torso. Grim's studded leather armor protects him from the spikes of the morningstar, but the concussion of the blow bruises his ribs and internal organs. Irthar steps back out of the shadows, firing a crossbow bolt in to the melee, missing his target. Kanuni again channels Dragon's Breath through his familiar, Chovi, but the targeted bugbear is just on the edge of the cone of fire. The bugbear receives moderate burns. A nearby bugbear throws a javelin at Chovi; the javelin slicing through the air and narrowly missing the bird. The bird flies to out of range of both bugbears. Grim, slams his staff to the ground and a deep tone rings out into the night. The holy energy released causes the flesh on the nearest bugbear to wither. Grim then utters the commands to refresh his Shield of Faith and the glow that had been fading during the fight returns. A gesture from Kanuni and a sheet of fire extends from his hands in a cone that envelopes the two bugbears that are attacking Grim. One is burned more severely than the other, but the least burned is already suffering from other wounds and is near critically wounded. After the third illusionary noise from Nobody, the remaining frightened bugbear begins to doubt the sources that it can't see. The bugbear moves in to attack Grim. One of the bugbears has maneuvered to be under the tree that Nobody has been hiding in. Nobody drops down from above with a series of three chops and punches, all missing to find their targets and the bugbear is only annoyed by the action of the monk. In retaliation, the bugbear swings his morning star at Nobody, the weapon hitting him in the upper arm. The gash begins to bleed, but the arm is not smashed. Irthar, not choosing to return to the shadows after his last attack, is rushed by a bugbear. The bugbear's morningstar narrowly misses Irthar. Irthar returns the attack, his rapier finding its mark, the bugbear now on death's door. With a command from Kanuni, Chovi finds a position that allows Kanuni to channel Dragon's Breath against two of the bugbears, one of which is the bugbear attacking Nobody. The cone of flame squarely finds both targets, and Nobody's attacker dies. The other bugbear is severely burned while attacking Grim. The attack is a wild swing that connects to nothing. Grim again slams the staff to the ground to trigger Toll of the Dead, the severely burned bugbear in front him falling to the earth, dead from the burns and the effects of the cleric's spell. Two bugbears remain. Kanuni spreads his arms wide and his occult words releases a cylinder of flame five foot wide. The flames shoot forward and engulf the last bugbear facing off with Irthar. As the flames sear the flesh from the bugbear, nearly killing it, a crossbow bolt from Irthar finds its mark and finishes the bugbear off. Nobody runs up to the final bugbear and with a single punch takes the fight out of the bugbear; all bugbears now dead. This is where the session ended
Created Content
The town of Basinbury.
Sharaila - The irate woman
Eileithyia - The daughter of Sharaila
Frode - The son of Sharaila
"Biero" - The absentee husband of Sharaila
Sharaila - The irate woman
Eileithyia - The daughter of Sharaila
Frode - The son of Sharaila
"Biero" - The absentee husband of Sharaila
Irthar Black
Kanuni of the Black Sands
Stex (Nobody)
Grim Galanodel
Report Date
11 Nov 2020
Primary Location
Secondary Location